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Now and then character analysis
Now and then character analysis
Now and then character analysis
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There are many different kinds of relationships and all of them require a commitment and an understanding between two people. Relationships can be when people are connected by blood, marriage, work, interests, intimacy, or friendship. They require a lot of work, but they provide a whole different meaning to life ,where people can share love, affection, emotion, and just be themselves with someone. Some people struggle with a relationship because of various problems in their lives or with finding someone right for them. George Milton, an essential character from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, is single because his devotion to Lennie Small, a mentally disabled, but physically strong man, prevents him from being in a relationship. His work …show more content…
George is a quick-witted man who is Lennie’s guardian, friend, and protector, to the extreme with George being almost over concerned. Lennie always gets in trouble because he likes to tend and pet soft things, and his mental disability prevents him from stopping himself, even when he injures the “soft things.” He simply does not know his own strength. At the beginning of the book, Lennie got into trouble back in Weed where they were working. Lennie caused a major disruption in the town when he was near a girl and petted her too hard, compelling them to leave and find a new job. George complained, “I can live so much easier without you”, but he never left Lennie because of his responsibility and loyalty to their friendship. George sides with Lennie during the incident, despite him never really seeing what happened. What kind of friend is willing to drop his job and life to run away with someone who will always cause him trouble? George’s commitment to Lennie takes too much away from his own life to have a traditional girlfriend …show more content…
George always works and worries about the money he has to make and where he has to go next to succeed. Lack of money certainly doesn’t buy you a wife, or much less money for courting someone. In order to make enough money to put away for their dreams, most of George’s waking hours are spent at work. Relationships are all about meeting someone and building a friendship with them into something more (Johnson). Without the spare time or extra money for courtship and relationship-building, George cannot have a relationship. In the book, Curley was always so busy that his wife ended up flirting with the other men on the ranch and in town because she was bored and wasn’t getting attention from her husband (Steinbeck 31). Like Curley, George in that situation would fail miserably as well because he is not only taking care of Lennie, but he is securing his economic
George and Lennie were lifelong friends and had varying personalities even from the start. Lennie thought about how his Aunt Clara said he should have been more like George. At the time when the story took place, the two men were travelling together, and had been for some time, working and then moving on to search for the next job they could find. They were like many other men in search for work, except it was rare for men to travel together. George felt a need to take care of Lennie because he was somewhat slow. George was an average man of the time. He was a good size, nice, but firm, and he had aspirations to be more than just a nomadic laborer. Lennie, on the other hand, had always been a little different. He was big, goofy, clumsy, but sweet. They were also both good workers. George was concerned with working and getting his money before they got into trouble and had to leave camp. Lennie was the one who normally started the trouble. He was a hard worker and lived to appease George, but he got distracted easily which angered George. George told about how they would own a house and a farm together and work for themselves. Lennie loved to hear the story and think about the possibilities, even though nobody knew if any of it was a possibility. George and Lennie's differences in part led to George's inclination to kill Lennie. Despite their dissimilarity, the two men needed each other probably more than they realized.
In contrast to George and Lennie's friendship, Curley and his wife do not seem to have a very good relationship at all. Even though they are married, the two of them are never seen together in the story. They always claim to be looking for each other, but never find one another. At one point in the book Curley's wife comes into the bunkhouse
Lennie's stupidity and carelessness constantly causes him to unintentionally harm people and animals. When he gets into sticky situations, George is there to help him get out of them. Ever since Lennie's Aunt Clara died, George has felt that he has a sense of duty
Although Lennie was unattractive and has the tendency of accidental violence, compassion was still something readers had for him. Steinbeck constantly reminded us that he has a mental disability which automatically makes someone feel pity for him. Additionally he was ignored and made fun of by other characters, “Blubberin’ like a baby! Jesus Christ! A big guy like you”(Steinbeck 10). Him getting in trouble was beyond his control because of his mental disability which is something else that makes a reader feel sympathetic for him. Also, the readers are solicitous towards Lennie because of how much he looks up to George. This is portrayed when Crooks asks Lennie what he would do if George never came back, “Well, s’pose, jus’ s’pose he don’t come back. What’ll you do then?”(Steinbeck 70). Because of his inability to comprehend information, he got extremely defensive and said, “George is careful. He won’t get hurt” (Steinbeck 70). This scene is crafted in such a way that it automatically
George really helps him through problems that keep happening during the book. Lennie is incapable to live because he does not know his strength and George has to play the role as a living assistant for Lennie. Lennie does not mean to harm but because of his condition he essentially harms people. In the book it explains the trouble in weed and George explains “Well he saw a girl in a red dress and a red dress and he just wanted to feel it and when he touched it the girl just starts yelling and all he can think to do is hold on” ( Steinbeck 41). The quote states or explains how Lennie can scare or harm people.
Steinbeck gives a lot of reasons for George to stay with Lennie, but his critics also have some merit in their criticism that the story isn't believable. Steinbeck's critics suggest that Steinbeck is "simply sentimental in this regard." There are some very compelling reasons George would like to stay with Lennie... but being "sentimental," towards Lennie has nothing to do with it.
It is very apparent that each of the four characters in the two friendships feed off of each other. In Steinbeck’s novel, Of Mice and Men, George and Lennie are very different, yet they need one other. George is a very independent, loyal, and caring person who takes care of Lennie because Lennie is unable to take care of himself. Although George makes it seem like he would be better off without Lennie, George makes it clear that without him he would be better off. This is evident because of this conversation h regularly had with Lennie” I could go get a job an’
The emotional symbiosis between George and Lennie helps each man. Lennie’s attachment to George is most strongly visible when Crooks suggests George is not coming back. Lennie is almost moved to hysterics and his fear does not quickly abate. George prefers to feign dislike for Lennie to Lennie’s face: “I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail” (7). When pressed, George reveals his true feelings for Lennie. “I want you to stay with me Lennie” (13). They stay together because “It’s a lot easier to go around with a guy you know” (35). Both men need and value their strong emotional relationship.
George’s love for Lennie is simply an unconscious effort to make up for Lennie’s mental weakness, yet at the same time his sentiment and kindness is out of sympathy. In chapter one, it is apparent to the reader that Lennie does have a slight mental impairment, but we do not yet know how acute it actually is. For example, when George asks Lennie what he has in his pocket, Lennie responded, “Ain’t a thing in my pocket,” (Steinbeck 5) as if he were intelligent. George knew something was in Lennie’s pocket, yet Lennie still tried to act as if there was nothing there. This gives the reader just a quick glimpse into the thought process of this complex character that is actually quite unpretentious.
We find out in the latter stages of the story that George has a weakness, specifically his dependency of Lennie. Lennie, intelligently, tries to manipulate George by stating that he will leave him and ?live in that cage?. This irritates George who is desperate to win Lennie?s friendship back: I want you to stay with me Lennie, no you stay with me?. This shows that he needs him just as much as Lennie needs him. In general the reader can see that George needs his mate, Lennie to be able to survive, regardless of how mentally retarded he is.
Relationships are an important essence of life. Humans need relationships because we are dependent on each other to survive. Babies need their mothers to feed and nurse them, and friends need each other to support, comfort, sympathize, and understand them. The friendship between George and Lennie outlined the core of Of Mice and Men, and although it’s sometimes idealized and exaggerated throughout the novel, there is no question of its sincerity. Lennie thinks of George as his only friend, his guardian, someone who he can trust and depend on, someone who had accepted him for who he is despite his childlike tendencies. Every time he did something wrong, his only thoughts would be of George’s disapproval. “I done a real bad thing. I shouldn’t have did that. George’ll be mad. An’… he said…. An’ hide in the brush till he come. He’s gonna be mad.” (pg. 92) On the other hand, George thinks of Lennie as a constant source of frustration, and as he frequently mention in the novel, “God, you’re a lot of trouble. I could get along so easy and nice if I didn’t have you on my t...
In chapter one, George and Lennie are introduced onto the scene and you get to know them a little bit and you get to see how they are related/ their relationship. When I read this first part, I could tell that George was pretty much Lennie’s caretaker and it was his job to find Lennie a job and make sure he ate enough and stayed a live. He kind of resented having to drag Lennie around (pg 11~12: “Well we ain’t got any!” George exploded. “Whatever we ain’t got, you want. If I was alone I could live so easy… But wadda I got? I got you. You can’t keep a job and you loose me every job I get.”), because Lennie’s a bit slow and he messes up a lot. He tries really hard to be good and listen to what George tells him to do, but in the end of every situation, Lennie forgets what George told him beforehand and sometimes it creates a little trouble (pg 45~46: “Well, he seen this girl in this red dress. Dumb like he is, he likes to touch ever’thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an’ the girl lets out a squawk, and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on ‘cause that’s the only thing he can think to do. Well, this girl just squawks and squawks. I was jus’ a little bit off, and I heard all the yellin’, so I comes running, an’ by that time Lennie’s so scared all he can think to do is jus’ hold on. I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go. He was so scairt he couldn’t let go of the dress. And he’s so strong, you know… Well, that girl rabbits in an’ tells the law she’s been raped. The guys in Weed start a party out to lynch Lennie. So we sit in an irrigation ditch under water all the rest of that day.”). But when you look at them, you can tell that George is...
After reading the novella I think that George is a really good friend to Lennie. The first reason that I think that he is a really good friend to lennie, because that he runs off with Lennie when Lennie gets in trouble. George have a choice of running off with Lennie and been trace by those people or he could just don’t care about Lennie and keep his job. But he choose to run off with Lennie and been trace by those people. The second reason that I think George is a good friend to Lennie is because that in the novella it shows that George care about Lennie. On the first section it shows that George tells to Lennie to get off the the green water and throw away the dead mouse that Lennie had. He did that because the mouse might get him
Steinbeck’s point in exploring these relationships is to teach people about how the isolation drives people into forging relationships with each other. While it should be obvious that a marriage would result in a much more loving and caring relationship, in this story, that is not the case. As shown, Curley and his wife’s relationship is nothing but stressful and a burden on both of them. Neither people are helped at all by the marriage, as both of them are still very lonely, even together. However, the most unlikely of connections, George and Lennie’s, perseveres and is truly a mutualistic relationship. While their relationship is not fully of platonic love, it is clear that both men do care for each other. Steinbeck wanted to teach us that people need each other. We as humans crave social interactions and the feeling of being respected and wanted. Sometimes, conventional relationships - like those of husband and wife - do not provide that, while unconventional relationships can truly have
George’s relationship with Lennie has made him selfless; his conversations, with and with out Lennie, are generally revolving around Lennie, although in the case of their dream-ranch George seems to find fulfilment for himself as well. Due to these altruistic tendencies that he shows throughout the novel, a danger is bestowed upon George; he tends to care for Lennie far too much, and too little for himself. In occasional moments, he escapes his sympathy and compassion for Lennie, and realises the burden that he causes. This usually results in George taking his frustration out on Lennie, which can often harm his simple mind, leaving Lennie upset and forced to confess to his own uselessness, and George feeling guilty for what he has caused. We can learn very little about George through his actual conversations, which made it necessary for Steinbeck to focus the novel on him in particular, and let the reader gain an closer insight on him through his actions. Generally, he seems to be caring, intelligent and sensible, but is greatly worn by the constant attention Lennie requires. This illustrates a major theme in Of Mice and Men, the dangers that arise when one becomes involved in a dedicated relationship.